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Happy Monday, everyone! While the slate looks plentiful today, keep in mind that this early game between the Rockies and the Pirates is not available and the availability of one or both games of the White Sox/Indians doubleheader is limited. You’re also going to notice that today is easily a day to pay up for pitching. I’ve looked through the numbers and the match-ups thoroughly, and while you are certainly welcome to take a shot on some of these lower-cost hurlers, the safe money says to make the investment here. Let’s take a look…
| vs L | vs R | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Name | Team | Hand | H/A | Opp | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/9 | AVG | SwStr% | ERA | xFIP | WHIP | GB% | FB% | GB/FB | wOBA | wOBA | FD | DK | Aces |
| Clayton Kershaw | LAD | L | H | CIN | 70.0 | 11.31 | 0.51 | 0.39 | 0.181 | 15.9% | 1.67 | 1.78 | 0.70 | 49.7% | 28.3% | 1.76 | 0.152 | 0.211 | $13,200 | $14,000 | $8,100 |
| Johnny Cueto | SF | R | H | SD | 66.2 | 8.24 | 1.62 | 0.27 | 0.244 | 10.4% | 2.70 | 3.00 | 1.10 | 48.3% | 27.8% | 1.74 | 0.303 | 0.257 | $11,800 | $12,600 | $7,900 |
| Rich Hill | OAK | L | A | SEA | 49.2 | 10.69 | 3.81 | 0.36 | 0.194 | 10.9% | 2.54 | 3.65 | 1.13 | 49.2% | 33.3% | 1.48 | 0.210 | 0.286 | $9,600 | $9,500 | $6,200 |
| John Lackey | CHC | R | A | STL | 54.1 | 8.61 | 1.99 | 0.83 | 0.211 | 12.5% | 3.31 | 3.38 | 0.98 | 41.0% | 37.4% | 1.10 | 0.299 | 0.255 | $9,500 | $9,400 | $6,450 |
| Drew Pomeranz | SD | L | A | SF | 46.0 | 10.96 | 4.11 | 0.59 | 0.171 | 12.5% | 1.96 | 3.51 | 1.07 | 44.3% | 41.5% | 1.07 | 0.233 | 0.244 | $9,000 | $8,500 | $6,600 |
| Gio Gonzalez | WAS | L | H | NYM | 48.1 | 7.45 | 2.42 | 0.56 | 0.214 | 9.1% | 1.86 | 3.98 | 1.10 | 48.2% | 37.4% | 1.29 | 0.237 | 0.259 | $8,900 | $9,900 | $6,550 |
| Vincent Velasquez | PHI | R | A | DET | 48.1 | 10.99 | 2.79 | 0.56 | 0.189 | 11.5% | 2.42 | 3.22 | 0.99 | 38.6% | 43.0% | 0.90 | 0.248 | 0.245 | $8,900 | $11,800 | $6,750 |
| Taijuan Walker | SEA | R | H | OAK | 42.2 | 8.65 | 1.69 | 1.27 | 0.237 | 9.1% | 2.95 | 3.22 | 1.13 | 48.8% | 29.6% | 1.65 | 0.253 | 0.335 | $8,800 | $8,100 | $6,600 |
| Ian Kennedy | KC | R | A | MIN | 50.0 | 9.00 | 3.06 | 1.26 | 0.215 | 10.3% | 3.24 | 4.28 | 1.12 | 35.4% | 47.7% | 0.74 | 0.271 | 0.307 | $8,400 | $10,400 | $6,800 |
| Wei-Yin Chen | MIA | L | H | TB | 49.0 | 7.71 | 1.65 | 1.10 | 0.271 | 8.4% | 4.22 | 3.42 | 1.24 | 44.2% | 32.0% | 1.38 | 0.280 | 0.322 | $8,300 | $9,000 | $5,800 |
| Adam Wainwright | STL | R | H | CHC | 51.2 | 5.40 | 2.44 | 0.87 | 0.304 | 7.2% | 5.92 | 4.54 | 1.53 | 39.0% | 33.3% | 1.17 | 0.327 | 0.382 | $7,500 | $6,000 | $6,500 |
| Mat Latos | CHW | R | H | CLE | 45.0 | 4.40 | 3.40 | 1.20 | 0.274 | 6.8% | 4.00 | 5.32 | 1.47 | 44.2% | 37.7% | 1.17 | 0.359 | 0.313 | $7,300 | N/A | N/A |
| Derek Holland | TEX | L | H | LAA | 40.0 | 4.73 | 2.93 | 0.68 | 0.273 | 6.3% | 5.63 | 5.51 | 1.43 | 33.6% | 44.3% | 0.76 | 0.275 | 0.335 | $7,200 | $4,700 | $5,650 |
| Matt Moore | TB | L | A | MIA | 46.0 | 9.00 | 2.93 | 1.57 | 0.262 | 11.5% | 5.09 | 3.82 | 1.37 | 43.8% | 35.0% | 1.25 | 0.354 | 0.322 | $6,900 | $6,300 | $5,950 |
| Bartolo Colon | NYM | R | A | WAS | 48.0 | 7.50 | 1.69 | 1.13 | 0.268 | 6.6% | 3.75 | 3.64 | 1.25 | 38.9% | 34.0% | 1.14 | 0.299 | 0.331 | $6,900 | $5,800 | $5,800 |
| Nicholas Tropeano | LAA | R | A | TEX | 43.2 | 8.86 | 4.53 | 1.44 | 0.272 | 12.3% | 3.30 | 4.92 | 1.58 | 32.8% | 48.4% | 0.68 | 0.380 | 0.332 | $6,600 | $5,300 | $6,200 |
| Ricky Nolasco | MIN | R | H | KC | 49.1 | 7.84 | 1.64 | 1.28 | 0.264 | 9.1% | 4.74 | 3.76 | 1.24 | 43.8% | 38.6% | 1.14 | 0.332 | 0.314 | $6,400 | $6,200 | $5,700 |
| Cody Anderson | CLE | R | A | CHW | 32.2 | 6.06 | 1.93 | 2.76 | 0.357 | 11.4% | 7.99 | 4.58 | 1.78 | 40.8% | 36.7% | 1.11 | 0.436 | 0.424 | $6,300 | N/A | $5,700 |
| Erik Johnson | CHW | R | H | CLE | 5.0 | 10.80 | 5.40 | 3.60 | 0.364 | 7.4% | 7.20 | 4.68 | 2.20 | 43.8% | 43.8% | 1.00 | 0.305 | 0.658 | $6,200 | N/A | N/A |
| Mike Pelfrey | DET | R | H | PHI | 41.0 | 5.05 | 3.95 | 1.76 | 0.326 | 8.6% | 5.49 | 4.88 | 1.80 | 48.3% | 28.6% | 1.69 | 0.437 | 0.349 | $6,000 | $4,900 | $5,850 |
| Michael Clevinger | CLE | R | A | CHW | 5.1 | 8.44 | 1.69 | 1.69 | 0.238 | 13.2% | 6.75 | 3.53 | 1.13 | 40.0% | 40.0% | 1.00 | 0.407 | 0.176 | $6,000 | N/A | N/A |
| Brandon Finnegan | CIN | L | A | LAD | 48.2 | 7.03 | 4.25 | 1.66 | 0.234 | 8.9% | 4.44 | 4.70 | 1.40 | 40.3% | 34.2% | 1.18 | 0.351 | 0.323 | $5,900 | $5,900 | $6,000 |
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Clayton Kershaw, LAD – It’s really just a matter of whether or not you can find the right bats to go along with him. You’ve got to dig deep, but facing a Reds team that’s posted a .267 wOBA with a 23.5-percent strikeout rate over the last week, you’ve got some serious low-hanging fruit here with Kershaw.
Johnny Cueto, SF – Well, if you want to save nearly two grand in pitching costs, Cueto certainly makes for a solid pivot facing the Padres. San Diego has a league-worst .272 wOBA against righties this season with a 25.2-percent strikeout rate and those numbers have plummeted to a .219/26.9-percent for the last seven days.
John Lackey, CHC – Tough to find a bigger Lackey supporter than yours truly, but in the spirit of full disclosure, I’m limiting my usage of Lackey today, only because the Cardinals numbers, both season-long against right-handers and over the last week, have been very strong. However, Lackey faced his former team back in mid-April and shut them out for seven innings and he gave up just four hits while striking out 11. I think he brings it back once again, but again, I’m limiting my exposure.
Gio Gonzalez, WAS – Tough to find a better time to face the Mets right now as they’re posting a .292 wOBA with a 27-percent strikeout rate against southpaws on the year and over the last week, we’re talking about a .282 wOBA with a strikeout rate over 30-percent right now.
Taijuan Walker, SEA – The A’s just don’t look good right now and they’re struggling to produce runs on a consistent basis. Granted, this was a slow offensive week for a lot of teams, but a .274 wOBA with a 19-percent K-rate isn’t exactly intimidating and their 47.3-percent ground ball rate is going to be exposed by Walker’s ability to induce weak contact and slow-rollers throughout the infield. Not to mention the A’s .132 ISO over that span should help Walker keep the ball in the yard.
Ian Kennedy, KC – Not a huge Kennedy fan, but against these Twins, he should prove to be a solid play for DFS purposes. Minnesota is sitting on a .248 wOBA over the last week with a 24.6-percent strikeout rate. Those numbers weren’t even remotely that bad the last time Kennedy faced them in April and during that start, he shut them out for 6.2 innings and racked up seven strikeouts.
Brandon Finnegan, CIN – Obviously he’ll be hard-pressed to nail down a win here, but given the Dodgers’ barely-average .304 wOBA against lefties and the continued struggles at home (.290 wOBA), he could be an interesting dart to throw at the Moonshot.